RISE: Increasing Access to Justice for Survivors of Human Trafficking
Angels of Hope (AOH) will provide system navigation support to survivors of human trafficking in Northeastern Ontario. AOH’s court support worker will provide survivors with a range of holistic supports including information about the court process, helping prepare survivors for court, accompanying survivors to court proceedings, and providing referrals to counselling and other community supports. Partners include the Sudbury Crown Attorney’s office.
$ 99,600
September 29, 2022
Youth Court Access Initiative
BGC Durham will hire a youth court access coordinator to provide referrals and system navigation support to racialized youth who are involved in the criminal justice system. The coordinator will also deliver workshops and create a toolkit to share legal information and resources. This initiative will benefit racialized youth, ages 12-17, who live in and around Durham. BGC Durham aims to increase access to legal supports that are responsive to the needs of youth in conflict with the law.
$ 88,135
September 29, 2022
Black Femme Legal Pro Bono Clinic
Black Femme Legal (BFL) will pilot a pro bono clinic for Black 2SLGBTQI+ Ontarians who have experienced anti-Black racism and sexual violence in the workplace. Community members will receive summary legal advice, brief services, and appropriate referrals from a volunteer lawyer in BFL’s network. BFL will provide training on anti-Black racism and mysogynoir to all the pro bono lawyers who participate in the project. Partners include The 519. BFL aims to fill a gap in legal support and services that are tailored to the unique legal needs of Black 2SLGBTQI+ Ontarians who have experienced intersecting forms of anti-Black racism and sexual violence in the workplace.
$ 65,000
September 29, 2022
Bringing CNIB’s Y.E.L.L. Program to W. Ross Macdonald School
Canadian National Institute for the Blind Foundation (CNIB) will provide Youth Empowerment through Legal Learning (Y.E.L.L.) programming to blind, partially sighted, and Deafblind students at W. Ross Macdonald School in Brantford, Ontario. The objective of this project is to increase students’ knowledge of their rights, advocacy skills, and confidence to challenge discrimination and assert their rights in a way that promotes inclusion, dignity, and individualization.
$ 21,878
September 29, 2022
Access to Justice for Spanish Speaking Seniors
Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples Legal Clinic (CSSP) will hire a paralegal who will develop and implement an outreach strategy for connecting with Spanish-speaking seniors in the GTA. This initiative will benefit Spanish-speaking seniors who are living in isolation with no access to other seniors or community supports. CSSP aims to increase these community members’ access to legal information and legal supports.
$ 99,872
September 29, 2022
Centre for Refugee Children – Legal Education Resources for UASCs and Refugee Children
The Centre for Refugee Children will develop, in collaboration with legal experts and community partners, a comprehensive catalogue of resources for refugee children and youth in Ontario, and those who support them. The objective of the project is to provide critical legal information in accessible language to unaccompanied and separated minors on the most important issues and processes they must navigate within the immigration and other systems they encounter during their settlement in the province.
$ 97,100
September 29, 2022
Prison Outreach Project
Downtown Legal Services (DLS) will expand its legal services to aid inmates in Toronto-area provincial penal institutions. This pilot program will assist inmates in identifying unmet legal needs and providing them with brief legal services and representation or, where DLS is not able to assist, connecting them with other legal supports.
$ 78,200
September 29, 2022
Community Legal Information and Preventive Education for Spanish-speaking Latinos in Toronto
Hispanic Development council (HDC) will provide intake, referral, and system navigation support to the Latin American Hispanic community in the Greater Toronto Area. This initiative will benefit community members with a range of legal needs, including family law, child protection, youth justice, wills & estates, and housing. HDC aims to increase the community’s access to reliable legal information and support that is linguistically and culturally appropriate.
$ 62,420
September 29, 2022
Building Systems of Community Practice to Address the Civil Legal Needs of Justice-Involved Ontarians
John Howard Society of Ontario (JHSO) will expand their Civil Legal Needs Program. JHSO will conduct research to better understand the unique civil legal needs of BIPOC populations in Ontario to create responsive and relevant educational content.The objective of the project is to increase trusted intermediaries’ ability to act as a bridge between justice involved individuals and the legal system so that the civil legal issues faced by clients are not further exacerbated by their justice involvement.
$ 98,670
September 29, 2022
Community- and Arts-Based PLEI for Two Spirit, Trans, Non-binary, and Gender Nonconforming People in Ontario
JusticeTrans will develop and disseminate arts-based PLE resources, such as comics and ‘zines, for Two Spirit, trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming (2STNBGN) communities in Toronto and Ottawa. Partners include The 519 and Kind Space. This initiative will benefit 2STNBGN community members who are navigating discrimination, harassment, violence, and employment related legal issues. JusticeTrans aims to increase access to legal information and resources that are tailored to the unique experiences of 2STNBGN communities.
$ 100,000
September 29, 2022